The Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is standing in the Nottingham city council by-elections on 7th November against the bedroom tax and all cuts to jobs, services and benefits.

Due to the resignation of two councillors for health reasons, there will be by-elections in the Dales and Radford & Park wards. TUSC will be contesting these as an alternative to the three main parties.

TUSC says:

Axe the bedroom tax!

The Con-Dem government is making savage cuts to benefits. The ‘bedroom tax’ brought in on 1st April this year has been met with huge resistance. People simply cannot afford it. In Nottingham, 6000 people are being hit but there are just 35 smaller properties on offer.

Nottingham City Council should refuse to evict anyone who cannot afford to pay this unfair tax. Labour leader Ed Miliband has stated that a future Labour government will repeal the tax – but 2015 is too late, we need action now!

If elected, TUSC councillors will demand that the council and housing associations do not evict anyone who cannot pay and will mount a campaign to axe this tax completely!

Save our Services!

Nottingham City Council has made £25m worth of cuts this year alone. It plans to make £55m more cuts next year. They have mainly been attacking Adult and Children Services, with higher charges for Adult care. As well as increasing Council Tax they have passed on the cuts of 18% to Council Tax Benefit. As a result of funding cuts, 54% of voluntary organisations say they will be forced to close over the next year.

TUSC opposes all cuts to services. The council has upwards of £133m in reserves – more than enough to continue funding services!

Oppose attacks on jobs, pay and conditions

Over 500 jobs have gone from the council in the last two years alone. Further cuts will mean further job losses. Local govern-ment workers are facing attack after attack on pay, pension & terms and conditions.

TUSC opposes the 1% public sector pay freeze and supports a trade union-led fight-back to defend jobs, pay & conditions. We support the call for a 24-hour general strike against austerity.

Labour: not an alternative to the Tories

It is the Con-Dem government nationally that is to blame for the dire situation locally by making unprecedented cuts to local gov-ernment.

But what is Labour’s alternative? They intend to keep to the government’s 2015 spending plans if they get into power! At Nottingham City Council, despite having an overwhelming major-ity, Labour has passed on these cuts without a fight and have even said they intend to evict people for Bedroom Tax arrears!

We don’t need crocodile tears and hand wringing. We need a real alternative for the working class.

TUSC councillors will propose a budget based on what the city actually needs & demand Labour backs it. The council could use part of the £133m in reserves & build a huge campaign to get back the money the government has stolen from the council!

CATHY MEADOWS – DALES

I‘ve been a Sneinton resident for most of my life and I am proud of our heritage: Green’s Windmill, allotments, Colwick car boot, shops and community groups and centres, all of which reflect our diversity and, like Sneinton Festival, bring people together. Sneinton probably has more homeless support projects than any other part of the city and we don’t see this as a “problem” instead we provide a safe and friendly commu-nity where people can get back on their feet. Currently I lead a campaign against the Bedroom Tax and cuts to Council Tax Benefit – benefits are the safety net for working class people and it is vital that we fight to stop them getting eroded.

I am standing as a TUSC candidate because TUSC is a coalition of integri-ty, for example all TUSC MPs will only take the average worker’s wage and TUSC does not accept funding from big business.

GERAINT THOMAS – RADFORD & PARK

I’ve lived in Nottingham for 5 years and have been active in fighting at-tacks on ordinary people for the past year. I’ve become disappointed in Nottingham City’s Labour Council passing on the cuts handed down from the Government, slashing their budgets rather than fighting back, mak-ing the people of Nottingham bear the brunt of these attacks, cutting basic services, freezing pay for council workers and doing the bare mini-mum to fight the bedroom tax.

If elected I would fight to break the wage freeze for council workers, to resist cuts to public services and to set a no evictions policy on the bed-room tax, and challenge the government directly on their cuts.

GET INVOLVED! Can you help with the campaign? Contact us: nottstusc@gmail.com – 07703 353 130

Members of the Fire Brigade Union took strike action on Wednesday for 4 hours against government plans to force them to work longer (until 60), pay more into their pension and get less money when they retire.

FBU have made it clear that firefighters do not want to take strike action but feel they have no choice in order to defend the service – many people do not have the same fitness level at the age of 60 as they do at the age of 30 and so public safety can be compromised if firefighters have to work longer.

Around 45 firefighters impressively marched out of Nottinghamshire Central firestation in formation. Members of the public were coming up to the picket line to sign their ‘visitors book’ and bus drivers were honking their horns in support as they drove past.

One striker summed up the mood on the picket line when he said “The government is trying to pick us off one by one, we need to all be out together”. Many firefighters knew teachers who are preparing for strike action next week in the East Midlands and referred to other possible strikes and could see the need for co-ordinating that action.

Nottingham Feminist Action Network hosted a women’s conference on Saturday for women from around the county to discuss how women can organise to campaign against cuts, objectification and other attacks. There is obviously a lot to be discussed and a great thirst for getting organised as the 140 tickets quickly sold out and there was a waiting list of over 50 women to attend.

Many issues affecting women were raised throughout the day and workshops were held on fighting austerity, victim blaming and objectification in the media. Local campaigns were highlighted, including Rape is No Joke, a campaign launched by Socialist Students, alongside No More Page 3, Million Women Rise and Notts Against the Bedroom Tax.

Around the conference, 41 fringe events took place ranging from poetry nights and plays to discussion events and workshops. Rape Is No Joke supported a very successful comedy night which raised money for Nottingham Rape Crisis and also hosted a discussion on “rape culture” and how we fight it. Sarah Wrack, national organiser of the campaign, outlined what we were organising against, the impact it has on women and why socialists are taking up these issues: that we are trying to build a united struggle of working class people against austerity and for a truly equal society. We attracted 14 new people to that meeting and over the course of the events have had around 35 people who have signed up to support us and want to use Rape Is No Joke to tackle rape culture and misogyny at the universities and in other areas in Nottingham.

October 11, 2012GeraintComments Off on Young campaigners holding protest fortnight of action against government cuts

Young people from the campaign Youth Fight for Jobs (YFJ) have organised a fortnight of action against government cut-backs. In towns up and down the country there will be protests to stop the attacks on education, job opportunities and benefits.

In Nottingham, there will be a protest to bring back EMA (Educational Maintenance Allowance) in the Market Square at 12pm on Tuesday 16th October. There will also be a lobby of Poundland (Clumber Street) on Thursday 18th October at 12pm against the company’s participation in the government’s ‘workfare’ scheme – where young people are forced to work 30 hours a week for their ₤56.25 Job Seekers Allowance.

Starting on Saturday 13th October and ending on Saturday 27th October, the fortnight of action will incorporate the TUC’s ‘March for a Future that Works’ in London on 20th October, where YFJ will be joining hundreds of thousands of trade unionists and anti-cuts campaigners in a united demonstration against austerity.

The campaign is also holding an open meeting on Wednesday 24th October at the ICC (YMCA), Mansfield Road at 7pm, with speakers including student activists, young campaigners and trade unionists.

Rich Redmore, YFJ activist in Nottingham, said:

“These protests come a week after the Tory Party conference where young people have been offered more years of austerity. Not content with pricing many of us out of education and watching the unemployment rate rise, they now want to take away our ability to live independently by cutting housing benefit for under-25’s.

“We will not sit back and allow this government of millionaires to take away our future. We urge all young people, trade unionists, community campaigners and everyone else angry at the coalition’s cuts to join our fortnight of action.”

This action is supported by Nottinghamshire Trades Council, who have encouraged their affiliated members to support the protests.